Deadline looms for views on future of Herefordshire

Residents of Herefordshire are responding in their thousands to one of the most important consultations ever to be undertaken in the county. But the deadline for completed questionnaires for the Shaping Our Place consultation is looming fast. It ends on 12 March but the level of participation so far in Herefordshire has already eclipsed that of similar strategic planning consultations in other parts of the country.

Shaping Our Place aims to help turn Herefordshire into a new land of opportunity, with more and better paid jobs, more decent and affordable homes, and better transport links. It was launched by Herefordshire Council on 18 January, and since then, scores of public meetings, events and workshops have taken place in the city, the market towns, parishes, schools and businesses across the county.

The consultation sets out options for the locations of new communities in the city and the county’s towns and villages, as well as where new employment land could go and how transport might be improved, including whether the Hereford relief road should go to the east or west of the city.

Residents can still pick up a consultation and questionnaire from their local council info centre or can log onto the council’s website www.herefordshire.gov.uk and complete a questionnaire online. Or they do not have time to complete the full questionnaire they can fill in a simplified version, with a freepost address, in the Herefordshire Council and NHS Herefordshire publication Herefordshire Matters, which is distributed to every household in the county. Herefordshire’s press and radio have given the consultation unprecedented coverage, which is ensuring it is the most successful consultation every undertaken by the council.

Councillor John Jarvis, cabinet member for environment and strategic housing, said: “Every individual who lives or works in the county will be affected by what will become the planning blueprint for Herefordshire over the next 15 years, and every hamlet, village, town and the city has an issue they want to influence, whether it is about jobs, employment land, affordable homes, transport or local services.

“Thankfully people are getting involved but if you haven’t yet completed a questionnaire I would ask you please to do so now by looking on the council’s website, popping into a council info shop, or looking out for the simple questionnaires in the local press or Herefordshire Matters”.

The consultation is driven by the need to grow the county. Herefordshire has below average wage levels for the region but above average house prices. There are 5,000 people on the county’s housing waiting list and demand is high for homes that are decent and affordable.

Herefordshire is recognised as providing a good education. But without a university, or sufficient higher education to build skills and qualifications, or good career prospects, the council knows young people are more likely to find better prospects elsewhere.

The county also needs more enterprises, offering high quality jobs. More space for employment land has to be found. Growth in the county will provide stronger markets for local firms to thrive and prosper - and safeguard local essential public services.

Sorting out Hereford’s traffic problems is a major priority. Previous consultation shows that most local people feel that a blend of public transport improvements and a new relief road and second river crossing is the preferred solution. However, the route – either to the west or the east of the city – needs careful consideration and the consultation details the implications of either option. Leominster is also identified as requiring a southern relief road.

The strategy for the market towns is to further promote their roles as service and economic centres for their rural hinterlands but also improve links with Hereford. Several villages could see development designed to increase affordable housing and sustain essential services, including schools, and new shops, along with rural transport improvements.

People’s views will be analysed and proposed policies developed and presented back to cabinet later in 2010 and publicised, before being submitted to the Secretary of State, who will arrange for a public examination and inspector’s report with final adoption anticipated in 2011.

In parallel, the council is also running a consultation on the Local Transport Plan, which will be adopted by April 2011 and will drive the county’s transport strategy for the next 15 years. The review of the transport strategy is intended to align transport policy with the wider needs of the county and will help coordinate support for growth. The Local Transport Plan consultation enables local people to let the council know what their priorities for transport are for the county, whether it is greater public transport investment, more cycle routes, better highway maintenance or further road safety improvements.